Author’s Preface
The "Author" here refers to Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Please refer to the post titled "Project Gita Rahsaya" before reading this post.
Gita is essentially a treatise for leading an action oriented life and not that of contemplation even as it indicates that both can co-exist.
Gita states that a life of selfless action never leads to commission of sin and (even if ostensibly it appears to be the case) ultimately such a doer attains Moksha.
The plan of Gita Rahsaya is to lay down the life principles and theories in an order first enunciating them for the lay reader and then gradually elaborating them along with a critical comparison with the fundamental principles of other (mostly western) religions and philosophical systems.
Even though we attempt to understand and compare the ideas of Moksha with that of other foreign systems it is to be understood that not only is it difficult to comprehend these ideas through the prism of foreign systems but these concepts are beyond comprehension for anyone. The limits of conventional human knowledge fall quite short of such ideas.
Outside of the Indian landscape it is Aristotle who has propounded ideas that we find in the Gita though it is possible he does so in a different context. In any case Gita predates Aristotle by several hundreds of years.
The beauty of Gita is not that it is a comprehensive system of cosmic knowledge (Brahma-Gyan) but that what to appears be contradictions between the principles of morality, devotion and moksha are infact not true. In other words for Gita the ideas of contemplation and action are mutually compatible. However, Gita quite unequivocally emphasizes on a life of action or Karma.
“Gita Sugita Kartavya Kimanyeeh Shastravistaryeeh”
(Meaning) Learning and Understanding of Gita is sufficient and even necessary. We then need not carry out a detailed study of all other classical philosophical treatises.
Here Gita is not playing down the importance of the other classics but only gently reminding the student to first undertake the study of the Gita before other classics.
The "Author" here refers to Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Please refer to the post titled "Project Gita Rahsaya" before reading this post.
Gita is essentially a treatise for leading an action oriented life and not that of contemplation even as it indicates that both can co-exist.
Gita states that a life of selfless action never leads to commission of sin and (even if ostensibly it appears to be the case) ultimately such a doer attains Moksha.
The plan of Gita Rahsaya is to lay down the life principles and theories in an order first enunciating them for the lay reader and then gradually elaborating them along with a critical comparison with the fundamental principles of other (mostly western) religions and philosophical systems.
Even though we attempt to understand and compare the ideas of Moksha with that of other foreign systems it is to be understood that not only is it difficult to comprehend these ideas through the prism of foreign systems but these concepts are beyond comprehension for anyone. The limits of conventional human knowledge fall quite short of such ideas.
Outside of the Indian landscape it is Aristotle who has propounded ideas that we find in the Gita though it is possible he does so in a different context. In any case Gita predates Aristotle by several hundreds of years.
The beauty of Gita is not that it is a comprehensive system of cosmic knowledge (Brahma-Gyan) but that what to appears be contradictions between the principles of morality, devotion and moksha are infact not true. In other words for Gita the ideas of contemplation and action are mutually compatible. However, Gita quite unequivocally emphasizes on a life of action or Karma.
“Gita Sugita Kartavya Kimanyeeh Shastravistaryeeh”
(Meaning) Learning and Understanding of Gita is sufficient and even necessary. We then need not carry out a detailed study of all other classical philosophical treatises.
Here Gita is not playing down the importance of the other classics but only gently reminding the student to first undertake the study of the Gita before other classics.
No comments:
Post a Comment